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Global-level work by Spotlight Initiative on participatory monitoring and evaluation has provided critical support to national-level leadership in advancing participatory monitoring and evaluation. For example, in Malawi, the Spotlight Initiative team set up monitoring structures at district level called “communities of practices”. These are composed of diverse stakeholders and led by district officials, taking a decentralised approach in order to create a more autonomous approach to reporting, including on Spotlight Initiative programming. They are seen as instrumental to ensuring local…
The Safe Mobile App (SAV-APP) aims to improve the ability to report, respond and fast-track cases of violence. Designed primarily for young women between 12 and 24 years, the app not only facilitates timely reporting of incidents but also connects women with medical, counselling, and policy assistance in emergencies. Launched in 2020, the app was developed with the support of the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund under Spotlight Initiative.
"Through Spotlight Initiative, we have seen more women and girls coming up to report cases by themselves." - Inspector Muna Meah, Commander in the…
The Spotlight Initiative established the first-ever National GBV Data Situation Room and Dashboard, in close collaboration with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Women Affairs (FMWA) and other partners. This innovative data management and visualization platform is designed to enable a systematic collation of VAWG cases using a bottom-up approach from the community to national levels. The online reporting platform is a critical component of the initiative, providing timely analytics and real-time visualization of validated administrative data on reported GBV cases in Nigeria.
"Knowing that the…
Spotlight Initiative in Mozambique supported the innovative gender-based violence (GBV) data management system “InfoViolência”. This web-based application, designed for registering and managing GBV cases, represents a significant advancement in data collection and analysis. Launched in 2018 and piloted in 2021, InfoViolência allows the referral of survivors to relevant institutions, such as health services (Ministry of Health), justice administration (Prosecutors and Courts), and Centers for Integrated Care (coordinated by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Action).
"InfoViolênci…
In 2021, Spotlight Initiative in Uganda applied the SASA! approach to VAWG prevention in refugee camps and accompanied this approach by installing solar streetlights - as a way to extend the reach and impact of the programme.
The SASA! methodology trains community activists to raise awareness and engage people in critical, reflective dialogue about VAWG, reporting mechanisms, and services within communities. It engages all community members, recognising that to shift the harmful gender norms and power inequalities that drive VAWG requires a collective change among sufficient numbers of…
In 2020, the Spotlight Initiative programme in Uganda conducted a mixed methods study to assess the knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours linked to VAWG, prevalent social norms, HIV-related behaviour and community responses to VAWG in two protection of civilian camps. Information was gathered through primary research and a review of secondary evidence, which the team triangulated to ensure consistency of findings. The team used the following techniques to gather data:
Questionnaire-based survey: The team identified 270 participants including men and women to participate in this survey…
Several Spotlight Initiative country programmes worked together to improve administrative and operational processes, in line with the UN Reform’s Business Operations Support Initiative. This included actions like joint procurement and human resource processes. These efforts aimed to streamline expertise, reduce transaction costs and take advantage of economies of scale, leading to faster programme implementation. Examples include:
Cost-shared budgets: In Liberia, the UN Resident Coordinator led efforts where Recipient UN Organisations identified opportunities to create cost-shared budgets…
Spotlight Initiative programme in Zimbabwe adopted a new way of working, aligned with UN Reform principles. During implementation, the country team established a collaborative model, jointly developing terms of reference and action plans for coordinated interventions. Spotlight Initiative’s Inter-Agency Technical Team actively participated in each agency’s activities, including meetings, conferences and training.
“Delivering as one helps all the sector stakeholders, especially the government partners. It allows the Initiative to effectively plug the resources into all the components that…
Capacity development of key stakeholders in the government, health, police, justice, and social service sectors, educators, private sector partners, and civil society, can help to embed EVAWG knowledge, attitudes, and practices in people´s personal and professional lives.
For example, in Malawi, gender-sensitive trainings on survivor-centred reporting for Police Public Relations Officers and the media continues to yield results beyond the initial training sessions.
In El Salvador, civil society organisations contributed to new areas of research on justice, social auditing for women's…
To sustain long-term impacts beyond programming timeframes, it can be useful to focus efforts on establishing gender-equitable policies and mechanisms. For example, laws to end VAWG, gender mainstreaming policies, new gender bodies and mechanisms, and comprehensive sexuality education in national curricula.
In Ecuador, Spotlight Initiative programme has strengthened institutional gender units within various governmental departments, including the Ministry of Education and the Legislative Assembly, which has cultivated a sustained focus on gender issues in the government and ministries that…